Shades of the New World

Chapter 273: A scam in progress

Not many people appeared in the taverns and the inns, as it was still the afternoon. But Evin soon noticed that a completely different building was attracting much more traffic compared to the other places. 

His curiosity piqued, Evin slithered over to see what was going on and found that the building was a drugstore of some sorts. A rough looking man with a pink horn was sitting behind a row of what seemed to be a piece of colored tree bark held together by a string. 

"Get your own Strand of the Avatar! One Strand and you'll get a chance to develop a magic granting horn by yourselves!" the man behind was shouting.

'Well, this is most definitely a scam, but who's this Avatar?' Evin thought curiously, as he looked around the gathered crowd. Evin hoped to see some people who might be scouting for information, but unfortunately, he couldn't really see anyone suspicious. Most of them seemed to be normal people who were looking at the man with suspicion and doubt. 

And of course, there were some who seemed genuinely interested by the idea. The seller skillfully took notice of the people and started to focus on them.

He picked one of the Strands and held it in front of one such person, a well-dressed boy of about 10 years, who looked at the seller's pink horn with envy and desire. It was obvious that the boy was still discontent about the results of the Horn Ceremony he participated. 

"You want to have a horn just like mine? I got these horns after consuming these Strands. And some might even say that it's fake, but I can prove it to you. Observe," the man said and pulled out a small knife from somewhere.

He held the knife to his hand and swiftly sliced. Blood dripped on the floor and Evin could see the man take on a pink hue for a second before healing the wound he'd just inflicted on himself.

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"Only 40 silver and you'll get a chance to develop your own horn. Maybe you can even grow two of them! Even three isn't impossible," the man said gleefully, happy he found a random kid to scam, "Who knows? Maybe you'll be one of those special people who will grow Twelve different magical horns like the Avatar himself! At that point, you'll be no different than those fancy mages!"

Evin was glad he managed to hear something about the Avatar. From what the man said, Evin could infer that the Avatar was an Ivari who had 12 horns on their heads, one for each world.

'Now that I think about it, why don't the Ivari put more than one horn on top of their heads? The things are artificial anyway, so I don't think it's impossible to do so' Evin thought idly, before reaching a conclusion, 'No, I'm sure they tried to do it, but the effects probably didn't match what they expected.' 

Evin then focused on the seller and the boy.

"But remember, if you don't believe in its powers, you won't be able to receive its magic. Some non-believers would consume the Strand with a cynical mindset and expect the Avatar's grace to fall upon them. But you know what? They'll never develop the horn themselves. They'll go through the pain, but they won't get the prize," the man said and looked dead straight into the boy's eyes, "Honestly, I can see it in your eyes too. The doubt and the disbelief."

The boy looked panicked, as the child was unable to match the stare of an adult. But his eyes still managed to steal a glance at the man's horn, no doubt thinking of the possibilities. But at this point, someone else interrupted the conversation.

"Oh, piss off, Luiev. Get a real job already! Anything that stops you from screaming bullshit next to my window!"

Evin looked over and saw a man peeking out of his window with his naked belly on display, savoringly eating a berry of some kind.

"Don't listen to that man, boy. The man has had his horn since he was seven years old, just like all the other Hornbearers in the North. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite get the silver horn of wisdom, so he needs to resort to these dumb schemes to feed himself," the man from the window laughed.

Luiev snorted dismissively at the man and turned to the boy, "Don't listen to a word he says. He bought a Strand from me before and couldn't quite grow a horn for himself. Since then, he decided to spend his miserable days sabotaging my work."

"Ha-ha-ha, I'm sabotaging your work? Tell you what, if you picked a different place to conduct your scams, I wouldn't even fucking care. Some people need to experience getting scammed to learn to steer away from people like you. But it's painful to hear you shouting out your stupid stories in the background. I can already feel the slimy stuff in my head rotting because of you," the man laughed and said to the crowd, "I suggest y'all to spend your time in a more productive manner. Don't give this idiot any more attention than he deserves."

"I only came here two years ago, you liar! Ask anyone in town and they'll tell you the same thing!" Luiev said to the crowd. 

But with two sides' statements contradicting each other's the crowd had to make a choice between the two sides. Eventueally, everyone seemed to unanimously agree with the naked man's judgement, as people started to disperse from the edges. The boy still looked conflicted as with his decisions, but he seemed to still his heart and he soon went away. 

Evin wanted to ask Luiev about the Avatar, but he didn't want to reveal himself so he decided not to. But he still stayed around the drugstore, since he hoped that the man would start preaching about the Avatar himself.

'I'll wait around for half an hour and if he doesn't talk any further, I guess I'll take my leave.' 

Thirty minutes passed and although Luiev wasn't garnering as much attention as before, he still managed to sell his magical tree bark to some nave young fellows. Unfortunately for Evin, aside from the times he chanted the Avatar's name, Luiev really didn't speak in detail about this myth of his. 

'Guess I'll go back to stalking the tavern doors. Since it's getting dark, they should be getting more traction as well,' Evin thought, 'Guess I can choose the more popular one and sit inside it.'

But just as he was about to slither out through his shadow, a bulky man who had covered his face with a scarf of some sorts approached the drugstore.

"Hey, there, big man. You interested in a Strand of the Avatar?" Luiev immediately noticed a potential customer.

The man seemed to eye Luiev with some wariness before speaking in a forcefully deep voice, "I'll buy two of your stuff if you tell me about this Avatar of yours."

Evin immediately sunk deeper into the shadows after hearing the statement, his eyes glinting with excitement.

'Bingo! Probably.'